Bulk carrier heroes of the arsenal history. “They were told that they should not go to sea”
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at about 3 o’clock in the morning, the motor ship “Arsenal Heroes” sank in the Black Sea, south of the Kerch Strait, approximately 27 km from Crimea. According to available data, 1 crew member was saved. The rest, 11 crew members, were probably killed.
Weather.
Weather conditions in the area where the ship was lost. Wind southwest, up to 20 m/sec, gusts up to 25 m/sec. With this wind direction and speed, average height waves about 7 meters. However, it can reach 10 meters. These weather conditions are classified as a force 9 storm on the Beaufort scale.
Description of the vessel.
The motor ship "Arsenal Heroes" was built at the shipyard in Komárno, Slovakia, in 1980 and was called "Volgo-Balt 224" when it was built.
Vessels of the "Volgo-Balt" type are classified as "River-Sea" vessels. This is a single-deck, four-hold, twin-screw vessel. Two engines, 515 kW each. The length of the vessel is 114 meters. Width 13 meters. Side height 5.5 meters. Draft 3.86 meters. Load capacity 3500 tons. Vessel speed is 10 knots. As for speed, the ship could reach 10 knots with new engines. At the age of 36, with “dead” engines, the maximum that can be expected is about 7.5 knots.
The ship was designed in the early 60s of the last century. The first Volgo-Balt was built in 1967. Exactly 50 years ago. The vessel was designed taking into account its intended operation during summer navigation on the inland waterways of the European part of the USSR. With access to the seas: White, Baltic and Azov. Moreover, with the following, very significant restrictions, both in terms of distance from the nearest port of refuge and in terms of weather conditions. For reference: a “port of refuge” is any port that a ship can enter in case of bad weather. Baltic Sea: Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Riga, 20-mile coastal zone along the southern and east coast to the port of Kaliningrad. White Sea: Onega, Dvinsk and Kandalaksha bays, and a 20-mile coastal zone to the mouth of the river. Mezen. Sailing was allowed in windy conditions 5 points, which corresponds to the wind speed 8 – 10.7 m/second, with wave heights up to 2.5 m. The maximum distance from the nearest shelter port is up to 50 miles. Vessels of the "Volgo-Balt" type had a Register class - "M-SP", which permitted the operation of the vessel under the above conditions. Over time, the operating area of the Volgo-Balt type vessels expanded, and by the end of the 80s, the vessels were already sailing: in the Baltic Sea to all ports with access to the Kattegat Strait to the line Cape Skagen - the port of Gothenburg; Through the Kiel Canal they entered the North Sea to the ports of Hamburg and Bremen. In the Black Sea - through the Bosporus and Dardanelles they entered the Aegean Sea and entered the ports of Greece and Turkey. During the Soviet era, we can say that, in general, operating conditions were observed. Captains who violated operating rules faced severe penalties. And in the event of the death of the ship - a real prison sentence. Yes, in general, there was no point in taking risks. On ships, radio operators regularly received weather forecasts, and the captain made the decision to go or stand until the weather improved. IN winter time I must say they defended themselves for a long time, sometimes for weeks. From the point of view of current concepts, it is unacceptable, but it was relatively safe for sailors!
Let us read carefully, once again, the conditions under which the operation of new vessels of this class of the Register was permitted, and compare with weather conditions in the area of the ship's sinking, April 19, 2017 The conclusion is obvious: the ship found itself in conditions under which its safe operation was impossible.
Technical condition of the vessel at the time of sinking
As already mentioned, the ship has been in operation since 1980, that is, 36 years. Is it a lot or a little? I answer with full understanding: “Very, critical, unacceptable, a lot!”. Vessels of this type were designed, as mentioned above, mainly for operation during summer navigation on inland waterways. For brevity, we will use the abbreviation – GDP. Navigation to GDP in the European part of the USSR-Russia is carried out mainly from April/May to November/December, depending on the region. The size of the vessel is determined by the dimensions of the locks on the GDP, especially on the White Sea-Baltic Canal. Therefore, the length of the vessel is 114 m and the width is 13 m. The design, longitudinal strength of the vessel’s hull ensures safe operation under the conditions stated above. The ship's hull set is welded from a steel profile with a thickness of about 6 - 8 millimeters. The ship's hull is welded from steel sheets 10 - 12 mm thick. For the design conditions this was quite sufficient. The reasonable service life of river-sea vessels is about 25 years, subject to high-quality, scheduled repairs of the vessel, in compliance with the rules of technical operation. During operation, the longitudinal strength of river-sea vessels is significantly reduced. This occurs due to the following reasons: metal fatigue, destruction of the hull and frame due to corrosion, non-compliance with the rules for loading the vessel. Since the ships were mainly intended for operation on GDP, the ballast tanks were not painted. Accordingly, the set and body were severely damaged due to corrosion. Changing a set is very expensive, so starting from the early 90s, they were mainly limited to minor body repairs. In some places the set rotted completely, leaving only scale. And there were a lot of holes and cracks in the set and in the case. The boatswain and sailors placed dozens of cement boxes! On one ship, in 1987, we had 40 cracks in the hull! When the ship was loaded, the ballast pumps operated regularly, pumping out sea water entering through the cracks.
After the collapse of the USSR, the fleet was privatized and its operation began without observing any restrictions. “Volgo-Balts” could be found in the English Channel, in the Bay of Biscay, in Gibraltar, in the Mediterranean Sea, and in the Caspian Sea! It should also be noted that in order to obtain greater profits, the carrying capacity of almost all ships of this type was increased and, consequently, the load on the hull increased beyond the design one. However, there was virtually no control by government supervisory authorities. Everyone acted according to the principle “We approve, sir!”, and those who were against, you know what they did. It is obvious that with such operation of the vessel, by the age of 36, the condition of the hull had become very dilapidated, therefore, the strength of the hull is significantly lower than the design one. It is possible that the above does not allow us to present a complete picture of the condition of the vessel. Let's put it briefly. The condition of the ship was very dilapidated, one might say sad.
Taking into account the condition of the ship and the weather conditions, it can be concluded that the ship had very little chance of surviving a storm of such force. The vessel was designed for safe operation in maximum seas of up to 2.5 meters. The actual wave height was about 5-7 meters, and at times more. A worn and weakened body could not withstand bending moments and break.
While there is no reliable evidence that the hull has broken, the possibility of the vessel capsizing due to loss of stability caused by the displacement of the grain load cannot be ruled out. If the rules for the safe transportation of grain were not followed, and there were significant, unfilled volumes in the holds, then under rolling conditions the grain could shift, the ship lost stability and capsized.
In general, it should be noted that for Volgo-Balt, on the high seas, a storm of force 9 is not just a lot, it is extremely large! It's like a collision between a 36-year-old Zhiguli and a new Kraz! Well, or something like that.
Shipowners
According to official data, the shipowners of the vessel are a company registered in Turkey: US DEEPBLUE SHIPPING INC.
Technical operation and management in accordance with the requirements of the International Code for the Safe Operation of Ships (ISM) was also carried out by a company registered in Turkey: GUNES DENIZCILIK NAKLIYAT. The company officially has 5 vessels. Over the past 3 years, vessels have been inspected about 30 times. There were no vessel detentions.
The vessel was registered in Panama and flew the Panamanian flag. The supervising classification society is Dromon Bureu of Shipping.
The last time the ship’s class was confirmed was in August 2015. All ship documents had valid deadlines. The international certificate for the safety of a cargo ship by design is valid until 04/10/2020. So formally everything met the requirements.
Analysis of the situation
The vessel made regular calls to Russian ports and regularly, approximately once every 6 months, was subject to mandatory inspections, in accordance with the requirements of the Paris Memorandum and the Mediterranean Memorandum. The last time the ship was checked in the port of Temryuk was 01/11/2017. The inspectors issued 6 comments. For a vessel 36 years old, these comments can be said to be insignificant. Let's list them all:
- Oily water log entries do not comply with requirements.
- The supply of lifeboats does not meet the requirements.
- There is no log of compass corrections.
- Temperature conditions for food storage are not observed.
- There are no records of weekly inspections of cabins, crew rest areas, provisions and drinking water.
- Protective devices for moving parts of machinery do not meet the requirements.
Let's face it, very insignificant comments. Based on these observations, it appears that the vessel was in satisfactory condition. However, not all so simple. Let's move on through the list of checks. Since 2014, the ship has been inspected 10 times. Of these, 7 times in Russian ports: Temryuk, Yeisk, Taganrog, Azov and Rostov-on-Don. So, in all the reports on inspections in our ports there are no comments reflecting the technical condition of the vessel. And only in the report on the inspection in Istanbul under the Mediterranean Memorandum dated August 12, 2016, there is a note about damage in the area of cargo ships, which affects the structural strength of the vessel.
What conclusion can be drawn? The conclusion is simple. Checks are formal. This is done for the sake of commercial gain and to the detriment of the safety of the crew, and also creates a threat of sea pollution with diesel fuel, lubricating oils and other debris, which is full of old ships.
As a result of the sinking of the ship, diesel fuel and everything else ended up in the sea near Anapa and Crimea.
Formally, the ship has nothing to do with Russia, except that several crew members were Russian citizens. However, the last port of call was in Russia and the ship was located near the coast of Russia. There was an opportunity not to go out into the Black Sea and wait out the storm in the Sea of Azov. But for some reason they didn’t do this. It is possible that customs or border formalities prevented this.
Conclusion
The death of another river-sea vessel in the Black Sea should draw the attention of state control authorities over the condition of ships calling at Russian ports. The Black Sea, one might say, has literally become a graveyard for river-sea ships. Almost the entire fleet of Russian shipowners is located in the Black Sea region and the Caspian Sea. The condition of the ships is terrible, the ships are registered under all sorts of exotic flags. This allows their owners to reduce operating costs. However, by doing so they pose a threat to the lives of ship crews and a threat to environmental pollution.
Currently, the average age of river-sea vessels has exceeded 30 years and has exceeded the standard and reasonable service life. It can be said that, with the exception of several dozen relatively river-sea vessels, all the rest, several hundred, are in disrepair and pose a potential danger to people and the environment. It is necessary to build new vessels as intensively as possible, decommission the most “dead” vessels and strengthen control over the technical condition and operating rules of the entire fleet of river-sea vessels.
The distress signal from the cargo ship "Arsenal Heroes" was received at about 4 a.m. Wednesday. At this moment, the ship was 27 kilometers from the coast of Crimea.
As the head of the department's press service told Interfax, the crew of the Arsenal Heroes consisted of 12 people: nine Ukrainians, two Russians (including the captain) and a Georgian citizen. According to rescuers, the ship was heading from the Rostov region to Turkey with a cargo of grain.
"The ship "Arsenal Heroes". The approximate depth at the point where the SOS signal is transmitted is 100 m,” the republican reported.
The press service of Rosmorrechflot stated that the dry cargo ship belongs to a Turkish company. They also said that during a strong storm, the cargo ship broke into two parts and sank.
127 rescuers and eight watercraft are searching for the vessel, said the head of the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for Krasnodar region.
“The specialized rescue vessel “Spasatel Demidov” arrived at the crash site. The work of the aviation of the SRC EMERCOM of Russia has been planned. The use of aviation will be carried out depending on weather conditions,” he said.
At the scene of the incident, consisting of operational headquarters Operational groups of the fire and rescue garrison are working. A Ka-32 helicopter was involved in the rescue operation.
According to the Crimean authorities, hospitals are ready to receive victims. Ambulance crews are already on duty on the shore. However, the rescue work is hampered by bad weather.
“The storm is force four, very high waves, gusts of strong southwest wind, the weather is very unfavorable for searching,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.
“Rescuers see people wearing life jackets, unfortunately they cannot lift them on board the lifeboat. They are carried away from the ship by a strong wave. Their condition is still unclear."
The President, Doctor of Military Sciences, captain of the first rank of the reserve, expressed the opinion on the radio that there could be several reasons for the crash of the cargo ship.
“One of the reasons may be technical, related to the condition of the hull. With a long wave, the hull can break, which leads to the break of the ship. There is another option: if you maneuver incorrectly on a large wave, if the ship goes with the lag to the wave, that is, on its side, then it can capsize. But with excitement of four points, this is irrelevant. Ships of this class, as a rule, have a seaworthiness of at least five points,” RIA Novosti quotes Sivkov.
However, carrying out a rescue operation in such rough seas is complicated, the expert noted.
“If we are talking about four points, then this wave can be from three to six meters high. This is a serious wave, plus gusty winds - all these are big problems for the use of helicopters, lifeboats and rescue boats.
If a person is in the water or on the wreckage of a ship, then approaching him is problematic - he can be smashed against the side, the force of the impact is terrible,” the expert noted.
It is currently known that until 2013 the ship was operated by the commercial company Ukrrichflot, then it was sold to the Turkish company US Deepblue Shipping. Since February 2015, it has flown under the flag of Panama and the name "Geroi Arsenala".
The operator of the vessel was the Turkish company Gunes Shipping. In addition to it, the company’s fleet included another dry cargo ship of this project - Aversa (“Aversa”, former “Volgo-Balt 200M”). At the end of March - beginning of April 2017, the bulk carrier "Arsenal Heroes" sailed along the route Hereke (Turkey) - Azov - Rostov-on-Don - Poti (Georgia) - Azov. On April 15, the ship left Azov.
The ship "Arsenal Heroes" is a dry cargo ship of the "Volgo-Balt" type, project 2-95A/R. It was built in 1980 at the Slovenian Shipyard. For eight years after construction, the ship was based in Kaliningrad and was assigned to the North-Western River Shipping Company of the Ministry of River Fleet of the RSFSR.
In 1988, it was transferred to Kherson (Ukrainian SSR, now Ukraine) and transferred to the intersectoral state association “Ukrrichflot”. Then the ship was named “Heroes of the Arsenal”, in honor of the Kyiv workers who staged an uprising against the Ukrainian Central Rada in January 1917.
Last updated: 04/20/2017
April 19 in the Black Sea in the area Kerch crossing. The signal was received by the Crisis Management Center at 03:54 local time. The last time the ship's crew made contact was 14 kilometers from the coast; the sea depth in this area reaches 100 meters.
Map of the search operation area at the site of the shipwreck of the cargo ship "Heroes of Arsenal" in the Black Sea. Photo: RIA Novosti / Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation
What caused the crash?
According to preliminary data, the cause of the crash of the cargo ship "Heroes of Arsenal" in the Black Sea was unfavorable weather conditions in the area of the Kerch crossing. According to the press service Federal agency maritime and river transport Russia (Rosmorrechflot), a dry cargo ship split in two in a strong storm and then sank.
How many people were on board?
There were 12 people on board. According to media reports, they managed to save one crew member and remove the bodies of three more people from the water, as well as discover two empty wetsuits. This was announced by the head of the Novorossiysk Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MSRC Novorossiysk) Alexey Kukhol. According to the RIA Novosti agency, of the 12 crew members, nine are citizens of Ukraine, two are citizens of Russia, and one is a citizen of Georgia.
Crew composition
A. Vedernikov (Russia)
D. Pateev (Russia)
L. Kadzhaya (Georgia)
A. Bitsyura (Ukraine)
N. Ganchevsky (Ukraine)
I. Glazko (Ukraine)
A. Goncharenko (Ukraine)
A. Mesnyankin (Ukraine)
A. Pantyukhov (Ukraine)
D. Sinyuk (Ukraine)
K. Chernenko (Ukraine)
M. Svechkar (Ukraine).
What is a dry cargo ship?
"Arsenal Heroes" is a dry cargo ship. The vessel was built in 1980 at the Slovenian shipyard Komarno in Yugoslavia.
The length of the vessel is 114 meters, width - 13 meters, draft - 3.86 meters, deadweight - 3 thousand 553 tons. The ship had two Skoda engines, which allowed the bulk carrier to sail with maximum speed 8.7 knots (about 16 kilometers per hour).
The ship operated in Kaliningrad for eight years, after which it was transferred to Kherson. The ship was renamed in honor of the workers of the Kyiv Arsenal plant who staged an uprising against the Ukrainian Central Rada in January 1917.
In 2013, Arsenal Heroes was sold to the Turkish company US Deepblue Shipping. Since February 2015, the cargo ship has sailed under the Panamanian flag and was managed by the Turkish company Gunes Shipping.
What was the route of the cargo ship?
The cargo ship "Arsenal Heroes", sailing under the flag of Panama, was en route from the city of Azov to Turkey with a cargo of grain.
Who is involved in the rescue operation?
About 140 rescuers using 17 pieces of equipment are involved in the search for the crew. At the scene of the incident there are the ships “Bishop”, “Armada Navigator”, “Barnet”, “Aigas” and “Aelos”, a Mi-8 helicopter, two divers, a Falcon 300 underwater vehicle. The tugboat “Demidov” also joined the search operation. The search for the cargo ship is complicated by weather conditions, with a force four storm at sea.
A criminal case has been opened under Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Russia regarding the wreck of the ship.
Rescuers continue to search for crew members of the sunken cargo ship Heroes of Arsenal. Let us remind you that at 03:54 in the morning on Wednesday, April 19, the cargo ship “Arsenal Heroes” disappeared from the radar in the Kerch Strait. The crash occurred 15 miles (almost 28 kilometers - Auto.) from the village of Taman.
At 05:34, one victim in a life jacket with signs of severe hypothermia was found and lifted aboard the Armada Navigator vessel (the water temperature in the strait is seven to eight degrees above zero). He was given first aid.
"Komsomolskaya Pravda" - Kuban "contacted a member of the crew of the tanker, which is located nine kilometers from the scene of the emergency.
Now the search continues. Five minutes ago, the rescue tugboat “Demidov” reported that they had found a man, but it was not yet known whether he was alive or not. And also two more crew members observed in the water. There is only one rescued so far - a Ukrainian named Chernenko, he is 35 years old. He was a motorman on the ship, reported “KP” crew member of the tanker located in the Kerch Strait, Igor Timofeev.- As far as I know, there is one death - we saw a load of 200. A little later they reported that another person in a wetsuit was noticed in the water. They are trying to catch him, but so far they can’t.
This is the weather in the area today Kerch Strait. South-west wind over 20 m/s and waves under 4-5 meters. The Arsenal Heroes suffered a disaster at night. Close to our ship, at a distance, a couple of cables were dragged by a steamer whose anchor had been torn off.
An empty inflatable life raft and two overturned lifeboats were also found.
At 15:00, rescuers found another wetsuit in the water. But later it turned out that it was empty.
